SAN BERNARDINO — County Supervisors voted to uphold the San Bernardino County Planning Commission’s denial of a conditional use permit for a solar farm in rural Apple Valley.

The proposed 3-megawatt photovoltaic solar farm at the southeast corner of Central and Tussing Ranch roads went down on a 3-2 vote, with Supervisors Robert Lovingood, James Ramos and Josie Gonzales voting against the project.

“Renewable energy projects must be carefully and thoughtfully located,” Lovingood said in a written statement. “This is not the right location for this project.”

Planning commissioners earlier found the 23-acre project did not meet Apple Valley’s code requirements, and the county’s Development Code defers to incorporated municipalities’ codes when considering projects in their spheres of influence.

“What was interesting was that the three supervisors who voted against us today acknowledged that the (county) ordinance as implemented was flawed,” said Matt Coleman, executive vice president of project finance/development at Clean Focus Corp., the project’s applicant.

He said the supervisors would have to rework the county ordinance to approve projects similarly located in the county.

“By denying our project, they did not have to do that,” Coleman said.

Clean Focus, filing under CF SBC Owner One LLC, will not immediately pursue three additional projects on file with the Planning Commission, he said. Those projects total a proposed output of 13.5 megawatts on 271 acres near Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree.

The company will start construction in a couple of months on two other 3-MW solar projects in the city of Adelanto, which “is a pleasure to work with,” Coleman said.

“I was pleased with the vote that was taken today regarding the proposed solar facility in Apple Valley,” Ramos said in an email to the Daily Press. “The project did not meet the criteria set forth by the county’s ordinance on solar development and our vote to uphold the Planning Commission’s denial of the project shows our ordinance strikes a balance between protecting business and protecting the interest of the community and the quality of life for our residents.”

Gary Brodeur may be contacted at 760-951-6245 or gbrodeur@vvdailypress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_gbrodeur.